Rep. Armstrong Votes To Protect Vulnerable Adults And Fairness In Election Funding

Press Release

MADISON, WI -- The State Assembly met to vote on a wide range of important proposals. After listening to the annual State of the Tribes address and witnessing the swearing-in of the Assembly’s newest member, the Assembly took up a package of bills to combat elder abuse and protect other vulnerable adults.

“I always get mad when I hear stories about senior citizens being abused or exploited,” State Rep. Dave Armstrong (R-Rice Lake) said. “That is why I cosponsored the bills before the Assembly today and voted for each of them.”

The package includes:

• Senate Bill 17 increases penalties for a number of crimes against adults over 60 and allows courts to freeze assets of defendants accused of financially exploiting the elderly.
• Assembly Bill 45 allows securities industry professionals to notify relevant agencies of suspected financial exploitation of vulnerable adults and to delay suspicious transactions pending a closer look.
• Assembly Bill 46 is similar to Assembly Bill 45 but applies to financial service providers.

Senate Bill 17 will go to Governor Evers for his consideration, and Assembly Bills 45 and 46 will go the Senate for further action.

Later in the session, the Assembly passed Assembly Bill 173, which reins in the role of private money in elections administration.

“Elections are the cornerstone of our republic,” Representative Armstrong said, “but there were reports in 2020 of private organizations giving grants to local governments to run elections and in some cases essentially commandeering the elections process. This is unacceptable, and Assembly Bill 173 will prevent private groups from anywhere on the political spectrum from going all-in on specific communities and instead will spread any such grants or donations across all of Wisconsin’s municipalities on a per-capita basis.”